Fool for Love
by Dark Puck
Summary: SPOILERS for Boiling Rock. After hearing the tale of Sokka and Zuko's escape from the Boiling Rock, Haru is touched by part of the story and decides to fix that problem.
1. Chapter 1

**Fool for Love  
Dark Puck  
1**

* * *

_the sacrifice made  
should not be done in vain_

* * *

It was full night when Haru slipped from his bedroll and silently made ready to leave. Absolutely nobody was going to like this, especially after the lecture Katara had read Sokka and Zuko about sneaking off. Granted, it had been a very _confusing_ lecture, with nobody certain if she had been praising them or scolding them. Still, Haru had the feeling she would not approve of the mission he had set for himself.

When the escapees had shared their tale with the rest of the group, the earthbender had been deeply affected by Prince Zuko's description of Lady Mai helping them get away with their lives. To turn on someone as terrifying as Princess Azula for love… it appealed to the romantic in him. And though the prince tried to hide it, Haru could tell that he deeply regretted leaving her behind.

He had tried to justify it, though everyone admitted he'd had no choice, saying that Mai's family was too highly ranked for the noblewoman to be summarily executed. Haru could see the guilt eating away at him internally, though Zuko was well aware that to have returned to rescue her would have been to make her sacrifice meaningless.

"Going somewhere, Angelface?"

Haru turned his head to see Toph staring blindly at him. "Maybe," he said, moving closer so their upcoming conversation wouldn't wake anyone else.

"Gonna rescue Firebreath's ex?"

The long-haired man flushed. "I'm not _that_ transparent, am I?"

Toph snorted rudely. "Your heart started racing the moment Firebreath said they probably wouldn't kill her. You started planning then."

Haru sighed. Despite the continual beatings the younger bender referred to as 'training', he had made no headway in either metalbending or seeing with his feet, leaving the girl incredibly frustrated with his progress. Certainly he couldn't detect heartbeats like she could. On the other hand, his fine control was better than ever, leaving him to assume that he and Toph were simply wired differently. "Are you going to stop me?" Even on the extremely unlikely chance that he might be able to beat her, the ensuing noise would surely wake up the rest of the camp.

"Why?" Toph asked him. "Why would you do this for someone you've never met, who'd probably kill you as soon as she'd look at you?"

Haru considered the question for a moment. "Because I understand doing foolish things for love."

She caught the tone in his voice that he'd so desperately tried to hide. "Katara?"

"It doesn't matter," he said softly. "I'm her friend. And nothing more."

"Do you think this will impress her?" Toph's voice was heavy with scorn.

"I'm not doing this for her!" Haru snapped. "And I'm not doing it for Zuko, either."

Her sightless eyes bored into his for a long moment, then she sighed. "Don't keep the bison. We'll need him later."

"I know," Haru said, bowing to her. "I won't be back, probably."

"I know."

Haru walked calmly to the six-legged beast and carefully climbed aboard. "Yip, yip," he said quietly, and Appa took off.

* * *

True to his word, as soon as Haru landed on a different island, he sent Appa back to the others. However, he was not able to get away without the overlarge bison bestowing affection upon him and thus made his first stop the nearest stream so he could wash off bison spit.

His second stop was a place where he could get some new clothes. Wearing the green clothing of his homeland would raise more than a few eyebrows, and the key to this new mission was blending in. It took him several hours before he managed to find a place to snatch a new outfit. Eyeing himself critically in the stream he'd been following, Haru decided that red was assuredly not his colour. And that the Fire Nation topknot didn't suit him at all.

Sighing, he got to his feet and then eyed his bare toes. Getting shoes was not going to be easy. So he would worry about them when it came to that. He returned to the home he'd stolen the clothes from, left payment, and then continued following the stream. Sooner or later he would come to a town, and then the real work would begin.

_Or, _he admitted to himself that night, _you could just stumble across something suspicious by sheer dumb luck_.

The suspicious thing was a large metal building, half-underground — and guarded by Dai Li.

On spying one of the elite earthbenders, it had taken all of Haru's self-control not to lash out then and there and strike down the traitor where he stood. _Caution_, he thought. _Getting caught or killed will not help your plan at all_. _She might not be here… but a place like this has to be important._

But how was he to get in?

Carefully, he circled the building, avoiding the patrolling Dai Li agents, trying to find some way in that wasn't guarded. And then he saw the vent. It was high up, probably to keep people from using it as an entrance or exit, but it was the only feasible way inside. _If_ he could fit.

_Unless…_

Haru suddenly smiled.

* * *

The sound of tearing metal rang through the compound, and a small group of Dai Li agents ran outside to see what had caused it. The cover to the ventilation shafts lay crumbled on the grass, heavily dented in the middle as if a stone had been rocketed into it. Red cloth fluttered at the corner of the opening, as if it had been torn; the Dai Li promptly sent a man up there to investigate.

None of them saw the shadow slipping into the building through the door they had used.

Pleased by the success of his ruse, Haru padded silently through the building, keeping to the shadows wherever he could. The danger level had just skyrocketed, and he was aware of every small sound around him. However, thanks to years of hiding his bending, Haru was more than able to move without even the faintest whisper of sound. Stealthily he moved from room to room, seeking any information that might tell him where he might find Lady Mai.

It was luck that led him to the locked room; listening through the door, he could hear pacing within. It wasn't loud enough to be a man, which meant there was a woman behind that door. His green eyes narrowed, and he quietly retraced his steps to find a set of keys. This was not an easy task; Princess Azula had brought her pet earthbenders back to the Fire Nation with her for a reason, after all. He eventually gave up after he located a stockpile of small projectile weapons, including a pack of _senbon_. He took that pack with him and returned to the room, where he slipped the package under the door.

The pacing stopped.

Haru held his breath, poised to flee… and then he heard scraping in the lock.

His gamble had paid off; the woman _was _a prisoner. He kept to the shadows, lest any Dai Li come patrolling down the hall, but the woman was swift and soon the door swung open, revealing a teenage girl with long black hair loose around her shoulders and wearing prison garb in a deep red. Her eyes were suspicious, and she held one hand at the ready with three _senbon_ clenched between her fingers. Twice lucky — this could only be Lady Mai.

Haru stepped into the light, empty hands raised. "Hi."

Her eyes flicked over him and narrowed further. "Why?" she asked him quietly.

"Later," he promised, gesturing down the hallway.

She shook her head. "Ty Lee first."

The earthbender blinked, confused. "What?"

"Ty. Lee. First." Her tone brooked no argument, and Haru nodded. Why hadn't Zuko told them the other girl had been taken as well?

_Maybe he didn't know_, said a small voice in his mind.

Haru followed Mai warily — he couldn't be entirely certain that this wasn't an elaborate trap of some kind. Or maybe being imprisoned once already had made him paranoid. Nonetheless, he kept pace, as the trap might also have been laid for her.

They crossed to the opposite end of the compound, where there was another locked door. With Haru serving as lookout, Mai knelt in front of the door and got to work on the lock. After several minutes, the door swung open, revealing a second teenage girl. This one was chained spread-eagle, with the manacles on her wrists each going to a side of the wall while her feet were locked firmly to the floor. She looked up, and a smile spread over her face. "Mai!"

"Shh," cautioned the other girl as she slipped into the room.

Ty Lee obediently lowered her voice. "You brought me a present!" She gave Haru an appreciative glance that made the earthbender flush and quickly return his attention to the hallway.

Mai only sighed in response. "Locked away to rot and you're still thinking about boys." He could hear the _senbon_ scraping in the locks as she worked to free her friend.

"I need to stay entertained _somehow_," Ty Lee informed her, earning a second sigh as one manacle opened. The soft banter continued until the younger girl was unlocked, which was when the escapees discovered a big problem — the acrobat had no feeling in her hands and feet and could barely move. Haru left his post to join Mai in chafing the younger girl's wrists and ankles, trying to restore circulation. Ty Lee toughed it out, biting her lip against the pain so she wouldn't betray their escape with noise.

At last, the noblewoman was ready to go, and the three teenagers trooped out carefully. They made it halfway to the door before six stone hands came flying out of nowhere, a pair catching each of them and trapping them to the walls. As the escapees re-oriented themselves, three Dai Li agents stepped into view.

"It would appear we have a rat infestation," said one of them, crossing to Haru and gripping him by the chin with strong fingers. He raised the boy's head, turning it this way and that to study his face. Snarling, the young earthbender jerked away and tried to bite the offending hand, but the agent had fast reflexes and withdrew. Haru followed up by kicking at him; when the man leaped away he strained against his stone restraints and shattered them.

Before the Dai Li could react, Haru raised his arms and opened his fists, and the stone hands trapping the noblewomen shattered. Both of them sprang into action at once, Ty Lee lunging for the man on the right while Mai let fly with her _senbon_ at the one on the left.

"Earthbender," breathed Haru's opponent.

"Traitor!" Haru snapped back, and then Ty Lee was behind the agent. Three rapid strikes, and he joined his comrades on the floor. "Go!" the boy ordered, and he and the girls ran, all attempts at stealth abandoned. More Dai Li tried to stop them, but their primary advantage — earthbending — was unavailable thanks to the metal surrounding them all, and Haru was more than capable of dealing with their hand-shaped rocks.

Between his bending and the girls' fighting skills, the elite soldiers were falling, and freedom was in sight —

A chain wrapped around Haru's neck, stopping him short. Choking, he clawed at the metal cutting off his air, but couldn't get his fingers underneath. Ty Lee began to turn back, but he barely managed to choke out, "Go!" before his air was completely cut off.

He fought desperately to escape the deadly hold, dropping heavily to one knee as his vision started to go dark around the edges. A boot slammed into his back, forcing the chokehold even tighter and driving Haru to both knees.

_No!_ he thought, scrambling for a handhold on the chain. _No! I can't die here! I won't die here! I can't…_

His killer hauled back on the metal links and pushed down on Haru's back. Green eyes widened as sparks began to explode in the ever-increasing blackness.

He _was_ going to die.

Finally, he accepted the inevitable and fell into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Fool for Love  
Dark Puck  
2

* * *

_it's not the end that i fear  
with each breath_

* * *

The sound of tearing metal echoed around the compound. Startled, Mai and Ty Lee turned in time to see the Dai Li agent's impaled body slam into the ceiling. It hung there limply, pinned by the metal spike that had turned a man into a corpse.

And the earthbender boy was getting to his feet, coughing, a chain tripled over and clenched in his fist. Still hacking, he stumbled towards them. "Go!" he called hoarsely, in between coughs and gasps for breath. Instead, Mai flung out one arm, throwing _senbon_ past him to thud into the throat of the man coming up behind him. Ty Lee bounded down the hall and threw one of his arms around her shoulders, supporting him with her deceptively strong body.

"Quickly," said Mai. "More will be coming. Can you run?"

The young man nodded, rubbing his neck and coughing a bit more. "Y-yeah. I'll keep up." He slipped out of Ty Lee's hold and ran on his own. "We have to be fast. I don't think I can fight them all on even ground."

Mai nodded. "And I'm running low on weaponry. Ty Lee?"

"As long as they don't sink me, I'll be fine," the younger girl reported.

"I'll keep you on solid ground," promised the boy.

Together, the three of them bolted from the metal compound. After a few miles, all three of them had to stop, as they were exhausted and the boy could barely breathe. "Up," he gasped. "The trees—"

Ty Lee looked up, nodded, and then grabbed the chain out of the boy's hand. Using a pair of trees as her base, she bounced from one to the other until she was far above the ground. Once she was firmly settled, she lowered the chain down so Mai and the earthbender could climb up. The entire operation took barely seven minutes, then to be careful they moved higher still, until the ground was hidden from sight. The boy promptly moved as close to the trunk as possible and wrapped his arms around it. His coughing had mostly stopped.

Mai turned to him. "It's later."

The boy stared at her for a moment, then the light dawned on him. "Oh! Right," he said, his voice still raspy. "Um. Prince Zuko told us what happened at the prison."

"You _know_ Zuzu?" Ty Lee asked, looking surprised.

"Not well," he admitted. "He only recently joined us."

Mai's eyes narrowed. "You're with the Avatar."

"Was with," the boy corrected. "I can't go back."

"Why not?" Ty Lee asked him. "'Cause you saved us?"

He shook his head. "No. Physically can not. Have no way to go back."

"So Zuko told you," Mai said. "So what? You have no obligation to us."

To her surprise, the boy met her eyes squarely. "I saved you because you saved him," he said quietly. "I know what it's like to do something… dangerous for love."

Mai stared at him. "You are a romantic fool," she informed him at last.

"I know," he replied quietly. "But at least I'm a useful one."

He had a point there.

"You could have been _killed_!" Ty Lee exclaimed, earning shushings from the other two.

"That possibility isn't entirely new to me," he said dryly, rubbing his neck lightly. "I accepted that possibility months ago, far before the invasion plans were made."

"Do you have a name, then, mystery boy?" Mai asked him.

"Haru. My name is Haru."

Mai snorted. "Spring. Of course it is."

"Would you prefer Lee? I could go by Lee."

Ty Lee giggled quietly at that. "I think Haru's a pretty name." She shot the boy a coy glance, and Mai rolled her eyes.

"Could you wait until we're _not_ in mortal peril to flirt?"

* * *

Dawn.

All three teenagers were exhausted, having remained awake the entire night lest they fall from the tree. The Dai Li had been by more than once, but fortunately had not been able to find them. Now that Haru was mostly recovered, they deemed it safe to climb to the ground and continue on. They walked until noon, and then the boy turned to the two noblewomen. "And here is where we must part, ladies," he said, offering them a bow.

Ty Lee frowned. "Part? You're leaving? But I thought…"

"I have other business," he explained. "And I _know_ you two can take care of yourselves."

"So, that's it, then?" Mai asked. "Save us and then leave us? Some rescuer."

Haru sighed. "You do remember the war? We're not on the same side. I'm going back home, and you two can just… well, do what you want, I guess."

"How stupid are you?" Mai wanted to know. "The Dai Li will be watching the ports. That one saw your face — and he isn't the one you killed." The boy flinched. "They'll be looking for you, and they'll be looking for us. Like it or not, you're stuck with us."

"I have other things to do," Haru insisted. "You'll be fine." He turned to go.

Mai glanced at Ty Lee, then jerked her head towards the bender.

A flash of pink, a blurring of hands, and Haru yelped and toppled forward, no longer able to move.

Mai allowed herself a small smile and moved forward, squatting beside the fallen earthbender and turning him over onto his back. "I think you missed what I said," she told him. "_They will be watching the ports_. They will be expecting us to split up. Ty Lee," she said then, taking a moment to address her friend, "keep him still."

Grinning, the acrobat plopped down gently onto Haru's stomach. "What the hell are you doing!?" he sputtered as Mai drew the knife from his belt and moved around to his head.

"Making you unrecognisable," she said coolly. "Now hold still unless you want me to cut you."

Green eyes glared darkly at her, but the earthbender held perfectly still as his blade pressed against his chin and scraped gently upwards. When Mai was done, she examined his now clean-shaven face closely and nodded. "I thought so. Ty Lee?"

The younger girl leaned forward, resting her elbows on his chest so she could get a good look. "Oooh. You're right."

"Stay with him," instructed Mai. "And keep him here. I'm going back to that house we passed."

"Okay!"

Mai made the trip quickly, knowing the three of them needed new clothes to help avoid being caught. She had noticed that it was apparently wash day, and was also good at estimating sizes and a quick browser, so in under five minutes she had made her selections of clothing and begun her return trip to the other two. When she returned, Haru had regained mobility, but Ty Lee was sitting on his chest now and he seemed reluctant to sit up and send her tumbling.

"Catch," Mai said, tossing one of the bundles at her friend. Ty Lee happily rolled over and caught it, looking it over.

"Oooh, these are _pretty_."

"Just put them on," Mai said as Haru sat up. He opened his mouth, and got a bundle of clothing to the face. "You too. Or I'll have Ty Lee disable you again."

He glared daggers at her and went to do as she said — then came right back out again.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Mai's small smile was malicious. "I can guarantee this is something the Dai Li will not expect."

"No. No way. _Absolutely not_!"

* * *

Seung brightened considerably when three lovely young ladies approached the ticket counter. "May I help you?" he said eagerly. All three of them were pretty little things — well, except for the tall one in the back who seemed to be sulking.

The littlest of them gave him a brilliant grin and toyed with a lock of brown hair. "My sister, cousin, and I are looking for passage to Ember Island," she told him, grey eyes sparkling. "May we have three tickets, please?"

"It would be an honour to serve such charming ladies," Seung replied, turning to get the tickets and thus missing the simultaneous eye-rolling of the other two. The transaction was made, the littlest one winked saucily at him, and then the ladies walked away. He was so busy watching their retreat that he didn't hear a word of what they said after.

"This is humiliating."

"But you look so pretty!"

"I am _not_ pretty!"

"Well, you're not exactly a paragon of masculinity."

"You take that back!"

"No. And don't forget your new name."

"I still say we should have called him Aika."

"There is not enough 'no' in the _world_."

"Either shut up or pitch your voice higher. We're dead if we're caught."

"Oh, lighten _up_, cos!"


	3. Chapter 3

Fool for Love  
Dark Puck  
3

* * *

_girls just  
wanna have fun_

* * *

"Haruka?"

Haru ignored Ty Lee, just like he'd been ignoring Mai since they'd boarded the stupid boat to stupid Ember Island. He was not a happy man. Not only had he been shaved and forced to dress like a girl, Mai's reasons for doing it were perfectly sound, and thus he couldn't hate her for it.

"Haruka."

It wasn't _fair_. He'd hoped to be able to find and free his father, or if that wasn't possible, return to the Earth Kingdom and work on freeing Omashu. But because he was such a romantic fool, he'd chosen to save two enemies, and now he was stuck with them. Granted, Ty Lee wasn't so very bad — she kept trying to make friends — but Mai…

She was taking an almost obscene glee in dressing him like a girl, he felt. Or he would feel that way if she'd show any emotion at all. He'd never met anyone as unreadable as—

"Haruka!" Ty Lee's hand came down on his shoulder, and he jumped. When had she got so close? Stupid metal ship. Stupid shoes. Stupid Fire Nation.

_…oh, spirits_, he realised. _I'm sulking_.

He turned around and forced a small smile for her. "Sorry, Chiyo," he said, careful to keep his voice higher-pitched. Mai had refused to let him out of the cabin until he could passably sound like a low-voiced girl. "I was lost in thought."

She didn't smile back. "We need to talk," she said, sliding her hand into his and pulling him down to the room the three of them shared. Mai was not present.

Ty Lee sat him down on one of the beds and then took a seat across from him, looking at him so seriously that Haru straightened, one hand self-consciously going to his throat, which still bore the marks of the chain that had nearly taken his life. She frowned as he did this, and Haru quickly jerked his hand away. "What about?"

"Your aura."

He stared at her, but she was still utterly serious. "…you're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not. When I saw you that first time it was red and blue, very pretty. But now it's lavender, being choked off by grey."

"And that's… bad?" He assumed it was, anyway. He wasn't so sure about the lavender part, but the word 'choked' had been used, and given what had happened to him in that prison…

"It's very bad, Haruka," she told him. "The lavender isn't really surprising, but the grey… you're feeling trapped, aren't you? Like things are out of your control?"

"I'm not," he objected instantly, trying to ignore the fact that she barely knew him and yet managed to pinpoint him so accurately.

She ignored his objection. "Haruka, you're a good person. Anyone can see that, even M— even Thuy. I don't like what's happening to you."

"Look, Chiyo, I'm fine. Honest. You don't have to worry about me," Haru told her. "You should worry about yourself. You and your friend have both been branded traitors. And then you escaped. They'll be trying to kill you now."

"They'll try to kill you too," Ty Lee replied. "You got us out. You did the impossible and bent _metal_."

"It's not that impossible. Toph's been trying to teach me the trick since the Day of Black Sun. It just… took me awhile to understand it. That's all."

* * *

_Air gone can't breathe hurts gonna die not time yet mom dad the store Katara gotta get out need to bend no earth only metal everyone says_ that it's impossible to bend metal, but that's a lie, Angelface," says Toph, circling him. "Metal comes from earth, and therefore it _is_ earth. It's harder to manipulate, but it's incredibly possible. You_'re going to die it hurts _one knee hits the ground and the metal vibrates _metal comes from earth_ you should be able to do it, and when I'm done with you, you _will_ do it. One metalbender won't be enough to win this war. You're _going_ to achieve enlightenment, Angelface, if I have to beat it into you." _no air can't breathe_ the boot on his back forces him to the ground _I can't die here_ he wraps his fingers around the chain _I won't die here _and tries to pull it off but he can't get a grip _I can't _the chain is pulled tighter and the force on his back increases and it hurts even more _gonna die_ everything is going black _dad_ he can't think anymore_ Katara_ and in the moment of acceptance _metal is_ _earth_ he feels what Toph had been trying to show him all along.

* * *

"… a long while," Haru added, rubbing his throat again.

Ty Lee reached out and caught his hand. "Everyone reaches enlightenment differently," she told him, drawing it away from his neck. "But steeping yourself in negativity so soon afterwards stifles and warps it. If you're not careful, you could lose it."

He met her eyes, and stared.

Katara had told him about a frightening girl who could take bending away. Sokka had told him about a flirtatious girl who cheated when she fought. Aang had told him about a girl who performed amazing acrobatic feats and was nearly as fast as any airbender. Toph had told him about an airhead.

Nobody had mentioned that she had incredible spirituality of a kind all but unknown these days.

"Can't you go for two minutes without flirting?"

Ty Lee let go of Haru's hand, and both of them turned to see Mai lounging against the door. "Come on," the shuriken expert said. "We're almost there."

* * *

"…this could be a problem," said Haru.

"No kidding," replied Mai.

All three of the teenagers stared at the squad of Fire Nation soldiers gathered on the dock, looking over each of the disembarking passengers. "So what do we do?" Ty Lee wanted to know.

They all looked at each other for a moment, then as one body looked down at the water.

* * *

"Why can't your nation be connected?" Haru asked wearily as the trio dragged themselves onto the shore.

"Because it's a volcanic archipelago, and thus by definition it isn't connected," Mai replied.

"The question was rhetorical, Thuy…"

A few feet in front of them, Ty Lee was stretching and bouncing slightly, much refreshed after their little dip in the ocean. Haru and Mai paused for a moment to stare incredulously at the acrobat. "Does _anything_ ever—?" Haru began.

"No. Never," Mai said dryly. "Welcome to my life."

Haru shook his head and wrung out his hair. "Can I stop dressing in drag now?"

"Let me think about it. No." The earthbender swung his head to glance at Mai. Her face was still without expression, but he could have sworn he'd seen a small smile vanishing. And there had definitely been some amusement in her tone that he had just barely heard. No, wait, now she was smirking at him. "You make a very pretty girl."

Haru groaned, and then Ty Lee was in front of him, grinning and taking his hands. "Come on, Haruka! You'll like it here, it's very peaceful—"

"When there aren't soldiers out looking to capture us again," Mai said. "Don't forget, Chiyo, that we've got to stay careful."

"I know." She grinned at the older girl. "I'll be careful, Thuy, I promise." And then she was dragging Haru off after her, heedless of his protests.

Mai's eyes narrowed as she trailed behind them. Ty Lee was naturally bouncy, but not _that_ bouncy. Something about their new ally was worrying her, and she was determined to fix whatever it was.

And if she could do it without alerting him, so much the better.

There was something special about Ty Lee, something Azula had never really taken notice of or even appreciated. The younger girl had always spoken of auras and what she saw from childhood, and though she didn't speak much of it these days, she _understood_ the meaning behind the auras now. Mai had been sceptical at first, but then they'd all come to Ember Island — was that only a few months ago? — and Ty Lee had seen right through Mai's front, the front she'd been wearing for years, and later had indicated that she'd known all along.

Mai wondered suddenly what Ty Lee had seen in Azula before she'd disabled the princess.


End file.
